In one of the surprise victories of the opening weekend, if not the entire season, the Miami Dolphins beat the New England Patriots 33-20.

The Patriots struggled throughout the game protecting the ball. QB Tom Brady was sacked 4 times and fumbled the ball twice. In a rare display of inaccuracy by the future Hall of Famer, Brady went 29 of 56 for 249 yards and 1 TD – a strike to TE Rob Gronkowski in the 2nd quarter.

After falling behind 20-10 at halftime, the Miami Dolphins put up 23 unanswered points in the second half thanks to the turnovers generated by the defense. The Patriots were completely blanked in the second half of the game and the Dolphins won 33-20.

RB Knowshon Moreno, who the Dolphins picked up in the offseason, had a memorable debut to the tune of 24 carries for 134 yards and a TD – a 5.6 yards/carry average. Backup RB Lamar Miller also added 5.4 yards/carry 11 rushes of his own.

The loss for the Patriots was the first time since 2003 that they had lost an opening game. However, in 2003 the Patriots also won the Superbowl, so perhaps the loss is less a sign of something bad than people think.